Future Society

How much are SMEs in southern Italy changing?

11 December 2018 | Written by La redazione

A study presented at the University of Catania takes stock of the first semester of 2018

For 44% of small and medium-sized companies in southern Italy, technology plays a major role, but only if it is supported by adequate human formation and cultural change. This is one of the data that emerges from the report of the MECSPE Observatory on SMEs of the manufacture of Southern Italy and the Islands, presented at theUniversity of Catania.

The report. According to the report, the process of change in the last few years has transformed 5 out of 10 companies, in a panorama that at a general level sees them now largely digitized. 77% of the entrepreneurs in the regions surveyed perceive their company as very or fairly innovative, and even96.2% believe they have a medium-high level of knowledge compared to technological and digital opportunities on the market. A good response also to research and development, with 66% of the companies surveyed who said they wanted to invest up to 20% of their turnover in innovation.

How the work changes. With the ongoing revolution the current professional figures "will not disappear completely" for 72.9% of the interviewees, who predict the birth of new and specific figures, with strong IT skills. For 25%, some figures will remain irreplaceable, compared to 2.1% who think that traditional professions will not be able to keep up and will inevitably be replaced.

Investments. The report also underlines how the intentions of investing in new enabling technologies have been confirmed, already widely used in the mechanics and subcontracting SMEs of Southern Italy and the Islands, which to date have introduced solutions in particular for information security (89 , 2%) and connectivity (79.7%), cloud computing (67.1%), collaborative robotics (35.4%), simulation (31%), big data (29.1%) , additive production (28.5%) and the Internet of Things (27.8%). The main factors for the slowing down of digitization, on the other hand, are represented by the excessively high costs of the investments requested (88.2%) and by an uncertain relationship between investments and benefits (for 52.9% of companies).

“It seems widespread - says Maruska Sabato, MECSPE Project Manager - the awareness that the 4.0 path is not only a great opportunity to be seized to ensure that the southern industrial and productive system make a decisive leap towards innovation, but a condition necessary to keep up with an increasingly changing and challenging demand.”

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